The Challenger on the Field
by Independent Chica 16
Summary: Hi guys. I lied. I will be posting more within the month. I found my way back to this story. :) Rated PG for slight language. This is an AU fiction for those who are tekkie on details.
1. In the beginning

  
  
She couldn't believe it.  
Her father could not do this to her. She wanted to have a real house, and not live on Naval Bases all the time, sure.   
But Virginia?? During integration? And Alexandria? The littlest town in the whole d@#$ state on top of that?!? That was too much.  
She had begged and pleaded with her father, let's move back to California, let' s NOT move to Virginia, let's go HOME.  
But her father had been unsympathetic. We are moving to Virginia, he said. She had no choice.  
Her name was Angel McGuwire. Her father was a Seaman in the Navy. Her mother was living in California. Her father and mother had been divorced for three years. Angel saw her mother very little and didn't care. She was never around anyway.  
Angel herself was 16 years old. She had been homeschooled by her father on all of the moves they had made across the US. Now she would go to a real high school. She was 6'2", 200 pounds dripping wet, and had legs that went on for days. She had red hair, piercing blue eyes that seemed to look right through a person, and she wore gold framed glasses. She wanted contacts, but her father wouldn't get them.  
Angel was also a well trained athlete. She was skilled in gymnastics, and track and field. But the real reason she wanted to go to a real high school was for one purpose. FOOTBALL. She loved to play football, and wanted to play on a team. And she was GOOD. She wanted to live somewhere up north, where she might get a chance to play on a real high school team. But Virginia? Forget it. In 1971, they had scarcely started integration, and they were not going to go well with the idea of a girl playing on their beloved male dominated football teams.   
Angel sighed. Life in Virginia was not going to be easy, but she was GOING to play football. Whether anyone liked it or not.  
  
  
The plane ride to Virginia was smooth and uneventful. Boring, really. Angel had been on so many of them, she had lost count. Great, she thought, boring plane ride to match a even more boring city. And we haven't even landed yet!  
Her father asked her, " Are you ready, hon.?"  
" Yeah, Dad," she said, " Ready for this "New and exciting" adventure that you have been talking about for two and a half hours. I still don't see why we can't live up north."  
" Honey, it's cold. You won't like it. It's ugly, and you have no better chance there than here of getting on a football team."  
" Yeah, sure Dad. The teams in the North have been integrated for years, and the team here just got the order to start integrating. Please!"  
" I know the coach personally, Angel. He'll put you on the team."  
Angel had her doubts. Dad knew a lot of people, sure, but he was also not liked by a lot of people. And this Coach Boone was not a person that she had ever heard of, for all of the 16 years that she had been alive. But, maybe her dad didn't tell her EVERYTHING.  
  
A few hours later...  
  
" Man, is this school SMALL!" Angel could not believe this was happening to her. She had not done anything to deserve it.  
" Keep your mouth shut," said her father, " We have to go and see the football coach, and I will not have you chanting women's lib at him, is that quite understood?"  
" You know, Dad, even the fact that you have to tell me that is pathetic. Women make up half...."  
" Angela Nicole McGuwire, I am warning you."  
" Ok, Dad. I promise. No women's' lib."  
He nodded with satisfaction, and proceeded into the Football Office. Angel followed, wondering if these Neanderthals were going to let her play.  
" Hello, Coach Boone." Her father said pleasantly as he entered the room.  
Coach Boone looked shocked, surprised and happy all at the same time. " Jeff McGuwire! I haven't seen you since the Navy. How are you doing?"  
" Good, Good," he said dismissively, " Look, there is a specific reason why I am here. You see, my daughter, Angel, wants to play football for the Titans, and I am here to see that you at least let her try out for the team."  
That's my dad, Angel thought, always gets to the point.  
The room was dead silent. There could have been a fly heard buzzing on the wall it was so quiet. Then, Coach Boone started laughing.  
" Jeff, why does she want to play a game with a bunch of big, sweaty guys, risk getting seriously injured, not to mention start a state wide riot?"  
He was about to answer when Angel cut in, " I consider my life a waste if I don't start at least one riot a day, Coach Boone."  
Her father shot her an evil eye. " What my daughter is trying to say, Coach Boone, is that she is a highly trained athlete and she wants to be given at least the chance of making the team. And I know for a fact you don't have enough decent players going to your football camp as it stands right now." Then his voice got quiet and smooth. Angel knew this was his I-am-not-in-the-Navy-I-am-a-Lawyer-now voice. " And if you don't give my daughter the same chance as you would any boy in this town, your @#$ will be in a sling. I will start with the new sexual discrimination suit and go from there and they will all have your name on them, Coach Boone.  
Coach Boone stared long and hard at Angel. She stared right back. She was not going to let anyone take advantage of her.  
He suddenly reached into his desk and pulled out a stack of papers. " Now, all of these have to be filled out and returned to me by the time we head to football camp. That's September First. Got that? You have to have a full physical when we get back, after the 14th, and I need to know if you are fit to play by August first. Got all that?"  
Angel kept herself from smiling. She had jumped the first hurdle. " Yes sir. I will have all of these filled out by the first."  
" Now, listen to me, " he said seriously, " I don't know how the boys are going to react to a girl on the team. They will play with you, because I will make them, but, um, I can't be responsible for anything else that happens, ok?"  
Angel had to smile now. This guy was good. " Don't worry, Coach Boone. I am highly trained in Karate, Akido and always carry a bottle of mace. I can take care of myself."  
" Alright, then. I will see you in the parking lot on Sept. 1st at 12:00. The bus will leave at 12:30. Don't be late, because if you don't attend football camp, you won't be on the team. Got it?"  
Angel smiled again. " Got it Coach."  
  
  
"Hurry up, Dad! I'm gonna be late!"  
Angel dashed upstairs, grab her duffel bag, and went dashing back downstairs, ran outside, and jumped into the open door of her dad's car just as he put it into gear.   
The whole drive to the high school was stony silence. Angel was thinking how hard this was going to be, having to prove herself to a bunch of Neanderthals that called themselves teenage boys. She was also thinking about who she would room with at the football camp. But she wasn't worried. Her father had always told her, you do what is the best for the situation, and everything else would fall into place. No questions asked.  
  
They arrived at the school at 12:10. Angel looked around and saw Coach Boone waving her over.  
" Well, Angel, you're...um...here." He said, with a nervous look around, looking out of character. He was apprehensive, his eyes were darting around, like he expected someone to attack.  
" Yes, Coach. Did you expect me not to be?"  
" No. But I hoped you wouldn't. I should have known better. You are just like your father."  
" I'll take that as a compliment."  
" Well, pick a bus and get on it. We are fixing to leave, in a second."   
He went over to talk to one of the other coaches. Bill, something, Angel thought, as she went to get on the first bus.  
When she stepped onto that bus, she immediately got the feeling of second-class. She was used to it. But thes e were different. Those dirty looks that she was getting were downright lethal.   
She smiled, and, with her Irish accent getting thicker by the minute ( Always got thicker when she was nervous or angry) she said   
" G'Day, Lads."  
She began to make her way to the back of the bus. She had caught sight of an empty seat. But the rest of her teammates were not making getting there easy. Angel was tripping over feet and bags and all of the other crap that was in the aisle.  
Angel's temper snapped. She wanted to make a good impression, but she wanted to sit down more.  
She tossed her bag the rest of the way to the back of the bus. It landed perfectly in her seat. Then she went to the door of the bus.  
" See ya in a bit, mates." Angel said, as she heaved herself on top of the bus.  
Angel was used to people staring at her by now. And staring people were. She made her way across the top of the bus, taking her time, so she didn't fall. When she got to the back of the bus, she grabbed the railing that ran across the bus, and let herself dangle, so she was parallel with the side of the bus that her bag was on. She pulled herself up, just as people were starting to whisper, and she saw the coach come over to tell her to get the h@#$ off of the top of the bus and get in.  
She put her feet into the window, and with one graceful yet powerful movement, she shot herself into the bus. She moved her bag aside, and sat down.  
Coach Boone got on the bus. He looked like he was trying like hell not to laugh, but he really wanted to.  
" Great theatrics, Angel. Anything else,?" He called, trying to sound like he was in charge, and his bus just wasn't worked over by a 16 year old girl.  
" No," she said smugly, " We can leave now."  
  
Three hours into the bus trip, Angel fell asleep. She was so tired from worrying and from getting ready for the trip.  
If her father had ever told her anything, she should have remember this: Never let your guard down in a situation that you don't trust. And going to sleep was the biggest way to do it.  
She stayed asleep until the bus hit a huge bump and started to swerve a little.  
The rest of the incident happened in slow motion. Angel felt herself slid off her seat while she tried to hang on. She grabbed her bag, for leverage, but that didn't help. Then, for some reason, she felt herself fly backward. As she spun around, she also felt a hand in her back push her.  
Angel hit the pavement rolling on her side. She lay in the middle of the road, trying to figure what happened. She raised her head slowly, and realized what the people on the bus were going for.  
It was the second bus, the one with Coach Bill Young on it. She saw him look at her and get the most terrified look on his face.  
The brakes on the bus smoked as the bus driver slammed on the brakes and locked them. Angel was frozen in place, she couldn't move, she was watching that bus come inching toward her face.  
The bus stopped, about an inch and a half from her face.  
Doors and windows on the bus flew open, and several of the black players came racing out of the bus. One of them, wearing a black suit, red tie, and a white shirt, lifted her up on her feet.  
" Are you okay? What happened? How did you..."   
Angel was so mad now she was oblivious to the rain, the cold, and the disgusting scrape she had gotten all the way down her leg when she was pushed out of the back of the bus. She had one thing on her mind...Gerry Bertier.  
Angel walked by all of the guys, ignoring all of their indecent looks toward her now ripped to shreds blue jeans. She got on the bus, and had two boys in the front seat get up and give her their seat. That's sweet, she thought, and she grimaced and sat down stiffly.  
They got to the school in record time. The other bus was already there, and Angel was trying to keep her temper. She got off of the bus, and looked across the parking lot to see Gerry Bertier's self assured look that said, " I got away with it."  
Angel snapped. She dropped her duffel bag, and started to walk over to Gerry. She saw him look at her, and his smile lessened a little. She stepped right in front of him and said, " Bet you thought that was funny, didn't you? Bet you thought that, seeing as I am the most different of all of you, black or white, bet you thought it was funny, pushing me out of the back of the bus like that, didn't you?"  
"Well, um, yeah." said Gerry.  
Angel smiled. " Wrong answer, Gerry. Wrong Answer."  
She turned as to move away, then she turned around and back handed him. She hit him so hard that she felt the bones in his mouth break, and his skin tear. She raised her hand to hit him again, only to have it caught by Coach Boone.  
" WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!?" He screamed, looking at Gerry as thought he had never seen a broken jaw before.  
" I taught this boy a well-needed lesson on how to respect a lady, and let us hope that he doesn't forget it." Angel said, strangely calm, and speaking in a relaxed, almost cheery, tone of voice.  
" Well, Angel, you must be the first player to ever get 20 laps before we ever stepped in the door. 20 laps, NOW."  
Angel smiled, dropped her bag next to the track and started running. This is going to be a long two weeks, she thought, as she started heaving almost immediately, due to her injured leg, the cold and the rain that beat relentlessly on her freezing back.  
  
Angel dragged herself up to her room, exhausted. 20 laps in the rain, cold, and injured wore her out a little.  
She looked at her paperwork. Room 314. She found it, and she didn't even want to open the door. Somehow, she knew what was coming.  
She opened the door, and looked around her room in disgust. This is smaller than a prison cell, she thought.  
And uglier too. The walls were drab brown, with peeling wallpaper. There was one single chain light bulb dangling from the ceiling. There was a stand up screen, which she didn't know what was for, and a tall, ugly wardrobe in the back corner. The floors were solid concrete, and there were two beds tightly jammed into the far corners of the room. And it was cold. Freezing cold.   
" How do you like it?" asked Coach Boone. She could hear the sneer in his voice, like he was daring her to complain about it.  
" Very Baroque," She sighed, not caring. Her leg was still bleeding, and she need to wrap it up. " Why are there two beds?"  
" Meet your roommate, Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass. He will be in here too."  
Sunshine was tall, tanned, and had shoulder length blond hair. He was wearing shorts, sandals, and a bright Hawaiian print shirt. From the look on his face, he didn't like the room any better that she did.  
" Well, you two unpack. Be to the mess hall by 7:00 for dinner" And off he went, laughing as he went.  
" Great," she said, throwing her bag onto one of the beds. " Nice to meet you, Ronnie Sunshine Bass. I am Angela Gabriella MGuwire. Angel for short."  
He looked at her for a minute, like he didn't trust her. Then he mumbled "Sunshine."  
" Okayyy.." she said, not really caring if this guy liked her. She was just there to play football.  
She went behind the screen, and took off her ripped up jeans. She put on a pair of purple bicycle shorts, and hobbled to her bed again. She dug around in her bag, and came up with a tube of herbal ointment, and a couple of rolls of gauze.  
" Do you need some help with that?" Sunshine asked, clearly wanting to make up for his rude behavior.  
" Are you any good at wrapping up scraped up legs?"  
" One of the best."  
He took the gauze out of her hand, and started to slowly wrap up her injured leg.   
She took that time to study him. It was a habit she had, trying to guess stuff about people before she even talked to them. But she couldn't figure out one thing about this guy.  
Sunshine broke the silence by asking, " What happened?'  
" Were you not on either of the buses?" She asked, wincing as the ointment started to sting.  
" No. My father and I were a little late getting into town, so we just drove straight here. Safer than the buses, from the looks of your leg. What happened?"  
" Have you met Gerry Bertier yet?" He nodded. " Well, Gerry thought that it would be really funny when, the bus hit a rough patch in the road, to push me and my stuff out of the back door and sliding across the pavement."  
" What a jerk." Sunshine said with conviction as he tied the bandage. " There, all done."  
"Thanks," Angel said gratefully. " My dad usually does this for me."  
" You have had injuries this bad BEFORE?" Sunshine asked incredulously.  
" Not this bad, but I have had my share of bumps and bruises.." Angel explained. " I participated in a lot of sports: gymnastics, hockey, roller blading."  
" You like hockey? Me too. I played roller hockey back in California." Sunshine said, moving back over to his bed and opening his suitcase.  
" What position did you play?" Angel asked.  
" Goalie. And you?"  
" Goalie. I played ice hockey though."  
" Cool." Sunshine said, smiling. " Well, we better get unpacked and everything." He paused, looked around the room, and grimaced. " Although, staying in here is kinda like living in a prison cell."  
Angel laughed, and was just about the respond, when a bunch of guys suddenly stopped at their door, blocking all light to their room.  
" Can we...help you?" Sunshine asked, pulling the string on the light in the center of the room.  
The biggest one, Eddie, stepped into the room, grazing the top of the door with his head. " We wanna have a few words with your roommate, hippie boy."  
" What about?" Sunshine asked pleasantly.  
" We want to tell her to watch her step. Just because that new coach is letting her play, that don't mean that we hafta be nice about it." Eddie said, trying to be macho.  
Sunshine looked at the floor, and for a few seconds, there was silence. Suddenly, he started to laugh. His laughing got louder and louder. When he recovered, he looked at Eddie and said, " Who do you think that you are kidding? Because it's certainly not me."  
Eddie looked nervous. " What are you talking about?" he asked.  
" Eddie, buddy, lemme tell you something, and I promise to talk in little words, so you'll understand it, okay? Angel has gone through PROFFESINAL ATHLETIC TRAINING.She is a vegetarian, which means she eats better than all of us put together. And she doesn't consider going to the movies a night of intense excise. She works out, A LOT. Now that's Angel. Let's take a look at you, Eddie." He walks around Eddie for a second. " Let's see. You are about 50 pounds overweight, which the coach has taken pity on your poor soul, and called it muscle. I've seen you run, so I know for a fact that I have a dead grandmother that moves faster than you. And to top all of that off, you are dumber than a box of rocks. Now I have said all of this to prove this one point. If you are trying to threaten someone, I would suggest you do it to someone who could not kill you with one hand, okay, Eddie?"  
Eddie flushed bright red. He was so embarrassed that Angel almost felt sorry for him. Eddie left the room in a hurry, taking his friends and his wounded pride with him.  
Angel and Sunshine looked at each other for a minute. Then Angel said, " Don't fight my battles for me, Sunshine."  
" But..."  
" Man, if I am going to make it around all of these guys, I have to stick up for myself. No one is going to be around to help me."  
Angel left the room, but not before she heard Sunshine whisper " I just did."  
  
That night, Angel came in and collapsed on her bed, still in her gear. She had never been so tired in her entire life. It was not even the first full day, and Coach Boone was already running them through drill and laps. On the other side of the room, she heard Sunshine moaning and unbuckling his gear.  
" You know," He said, groaning and stretching, " You are gonna hurt worse if you sleep in your gear."  
" I know, I'm getting up." She said, moaning and groaning as she struggled to her feet.  
" Did you hear what you did to Gerry?" said Sunshine.  
" No."  
" Well, you caused a lot of damage with just one blow. He can still play ball, but he is going to have a mouthful of metal for the next 6 weeks. You also broke 4 bones in his face. I heard that the doctor asked where the baseball bat was that did it to him. When he heard that it was done by a human hand, he wanted to see you, because he was so sure that you had broken your hand."  
Angel looked at her hand. It didn't look broken, so she wasn't worried. " Night Sunshine."  
" Night."  
Angel fell asleep. She was just going into deeper sleep, when she woke up all of a sudden. She looked at the clock. 3:15 a.m.  
She sat up, wondering what could wake her out of a deep sleep when she realized....it was FREEZING.  
Angel could see her breath rising in front of her in thick clouds of vapor. She looked over at Sunshine, and saw that he was awake also.  
" D****, it's cold." he said, shivering and clutching the thin blanket around him.  
" Sure is." Angel agreed. She went over to the thermostat. It shouldn't be this cold, she thought. Then she saw the problem.  
The thermostat had been turned all the way down to 42 degrees, and then broken, so it couldn't be turned off.  
She told Sunshine, and he said " What do we do now?"  
" Freeze tonight, and talk to Coach in the morning."  
" We'll freeze to death in here!"  
" Don't be such a drama queen. We will not." Angel went to the wardrobe and opened it. She tossed Sunshine a sweater and a pair of sweatpants. " Put those on, and a pair of thick socks too." She then grabbed her own sweater and pants, and got a pair of Sunshine's wool socks. They both got back into bed and laid there shivering until they both went to sleep.  
They were both up again at 5:30. They dressed quickly, and ran downstairs to find Coach Boone.  
When they found him and told him the problem, they were not amused with his answer.  
" There's nothing we can do. The repair guys isn't here."  
"BUT WE ARE GOING TO FREEZE!!"  
" Get a blanket."  
Sunshine and Angel looked at each other, dumbstruck. It was 25 at night, and about 40 during the day. And they had to live with it.  
The first full day of football camp was worse than the night before. None of them every stopped moving. They were running left and right, and up and down. Coach Boone was tough, and he proved it. He wanted them to pull together as a team, but none of them were doing it yet. Especially not towards Angel.  
It was finally dinner time. Angel was exhausted, and not in the mood to go and face more meat. She had dinner the night before, and all she could eat of it was limp salad, a rock hard roll, a warm carton of milk, and a stale cookie. The main course had been beef stew. Today, it was hamburgers.  
Angel got her tray, looked down at it in disgust, and went over to an empty table at the far end of the cafeteria. As she walked by, she got the usual killer looks and indecent words muttered under their breath so that they thought that she couldn't hear them. She sat down and thought, " I am not going to survive on this team."  
She was shocked at herself. For the first time since she had begun this entire thing, since she wanted to play football, she had NEVER, ever, had one minute of self doubt. She wanted to quit.  
And she would have, if an extraordinary thing had not happened.  
Gerry Betier, the captain of the football team, with his mouth full of metal, came over to her and stood beside her for a moment. She looked up at him, wondering what he wanted. She figured he was going to talk his way around the metal, and tell her what a b**** that she was, and how he was going to kick her a$$.   
BUT....he didn't. He worked his jaw a couple of times, took a breath, and said quickly, " CanI sit here?"  
She caught what he had said, and she replied, " Sure." Angel shifted her stuff, and moved over so he could sit down.  
They ate in silence for a while, Gerry, sipping his soup through a straw, Angel, eating her limp salad, and wondering what the hell was going on.  
Suddenly, Gerry put his soup down. He cleared his throat, and said, " I want to apologize. It was a really stupid prank that I pulled, pushing you out of the bus like that. I never thought that you might get seriously hurt or anything." He paused, and turned and looked at her. " Can you ever forgive me?"  
She thought about it for a minute. He was a guy, who had pushed her out of the back of a bus, on purpose, with the intention of making sure that she couldn't play football. Then he had smiled and smirked about it afterwards.  
" I think you have been punished enough," She said with a smile. " I forgive you."  
Gerry smiled. He goes, " Good. Now that we are on our way, sort of, kind of, being maybe friends, I just wanna say....please don't hit me again, THAT HURT!"  
Angel laughed hysterically. She said, " I can't promise anything, but I will try."  
  
  
The two weeks of football camp flew by after that. Angel, Gerry and Sunshine all got to be a tight-knight group of friends. Which is what Coach Boone was going for, of course, for the Captain, the star quarterback, and the second string quarterback to get together and like each other. The rest would work itself out.  
They were all loading the buses, and Angel was glad to see that the white and black players were mixing in the buses together, without having to be made to by Coach Boone.  
Angel got on the bus, and saw Gerry and Sunshine sitting in the back. " Hey Angel, back here!" They called.  
The entire bus was quiet. They were all recalling the bus ride to camp. " If it's all the same to you guys, I think I will sit up front." She said, dropping her bag on the seat next to Rev.  
Everyone laughed. They were all friends.  
  
  
THEIR PARENTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE ANOTHER STORY...  
  
Football camp had done what it was supposed to do. They were no longer thinking of themselves as black and white, but in white and red. ( The Titans uniform.) They accepted each other, and respected each other. It had taken Angel the longest to break through the racist/sexist barrier. And some of the still didn't like her, but a t least she was respected. A little.  
All in all, everyone was happy and making friends at camp. But then, they came home.  
The bus stopped in the parking lot of T.C. Williams High, and everyone piled out. Angel got off more slowly, lugging her heavy duffel behind her.  
As she went to find her father, she heard snatches of conversation going on around her, none which sounded all too inviting.  
" Mom, really, they're a nice bunch of guys..."  
" Honey, it must have been awful..."  
" Imagine, letting a girl play football! What was her mother thinking..."  
" I heard she doesn't have a mother. She ran off with another man and totally abandoned her..."  
Angel focused on the last part of the conversation and spun around. About 8 feet away, there were two middle aged women, talking to each other with their hands cupped over their mouths. Nearby, Gerry and Rev were saying, "Mom, Shut up. She's our friend, shut up..."  
Angel smiled, and thought, " This is too priceless to let slip by." She walked over, and the two women stopped talking instantly.  
" So Rev, Gerry, you didn't mention that your mothers were a couple of busybodies." Angel said, pretending to be all icky sticky sweet.  
Both women stopped talking. Then the older one said, " Who do you think that you are, young missy?"  
" I think that I am someone who doesn't like to be talked about behind her back and if you don't keep your d*** nose out of my business, I am going to have to start talking about you."  
" We are fine upstanding citizens, unlike you and that heathen father of yours."  
" Oh. So my father is a lawyer and he's black, that makes him a heathen?"  
Rev and Gerry were stunned. All the time that they were at camp, Angel had never mentioned her father was black.  
The two women looked horrified. Angel was now obiviously biracial, and the fact that a black man and a white woman had gotten married was totally foreign to them.  
Angel finally saw her father, standing across the parking lot. SHe ran over, and gave him a huge hug.  
" How did it go Honey?" He asked.  
" It was hard." She said, picking up her bag and heaving it into the car.  
" Well, you knew it was not going to be easy when you went into it," He said, getting into the car and starting the engine.  
Angel got into the car and fastened her seat belt. " I know. I just didn't think it would be this hard."  
Just then, Sunshine appeared at her window. She rolled it down, and said, " Hey man."  
" Hey. Just wanted to say see you at school tommorrow."  
" Wow. Time sure does fly when you are being hounded by Coach Boone."  
Sunshine laughed. Her father, who was waiting patiently, said, " Aren't you going to introduce me Angel?"  
" OH! Sorry Dad. Sunshine, my dad Jeff, Dad, my friend and roomate, Sunshine."  
They shook hands, and then Sunshine said, " Well, better go. I see my dad glaring at me now. Later."  
Angel and her dad went home in silence. Then he said, " So how did it REALLY go?"  
" Well, I got pushed out of the back of the bus while it was still moving, Me and Sunshine's room got turned into a meat locker, and speaking of meat, I have been living on limp salad and rock hard dinner rolls for the past two weeks. Let's just say I am glad to be home. Oh, and the good townspeople of Alexiandria FINALLY figured out that my mother was white and my father is black, and now I will probably be known as the town Jezebel or something, I dunno."  
Her father was silent for a minute. And then he said, " Is that all? I thought something bad had happened."  
" Ha Ha, very funny Dad."  
  
The next day, Angel awoke at 5:30 am to get ready for school. She got dressed, put on her make up, and threw on her leather jacket for attitude more than anything else. She kissed her father,said goodbye to her brothers, petted her dog, and ran outside to her motorcycle. With her helmet in place, she kicked the Harley to life, and roared off to T.C. Williams.   
Students were milling around the school when she rode in. Of course, everyone stopped and stared when they heard the roar of the Harley Hog. She parked the bike in one of the regular car parking spaces, took her helmet off, and shook her hair out. She felt 900 pairs of eyes on her, and it unnerved her. She was used to being stared at, but this was a too little much.   
She looked around, and saw the guys from the football team congregating at the entrance of the building. She stepped over to them , and said " Hey guys, What's up?"  
"Not much." they all said, looking kinda nervous. Suddenly, all 900 pairs of eyes swiveled over to them, all of them looking instead of warm and welcoming, cold and uninviting. All the guys had looks of malice, all of the girls had looks of disgust, and all of the teachers had looks of disparagement and disapproval.   
Angel looked around, smiled, and said, " They must be jealous that they can't look as good as we do."  
Everyone laughed. That broke the ice just a little. Everyone started to look just a little more relaxed.  
Just then, two white girls came strolling up to Angel. They looked really mad. The first one marched right up to her, threw her head back, and spit right in Angels face.  
Angel was in shock for a minute. She shook her head a minute, and accepted the bandanna that Gerry handed her. " Thanks Ger." She said, wiping her face off.   
Then she turned and looked at the two girls. The one who had spit on her was red faced, and said, " You are such a SLUT!"  
" Um, Okay." Angel said. She was still a little dazed from being spit on, but she was rapidly becoming more and more angry.  
" Any genius could figure out why you are on a boys football team. What, you don't get any?"  
" Bitch. I play football because I want to play football, and you are a ditzy cheerleader because you don't have the brains to do anything else. And I wouldn't be going around, throwing sleeping around with the football players in anyone else's face. At least I don't sleep with the football, basketball and soccer teams."  
Boy, was she mad. She swelled up, made a disgusted sound, and stompped off, with her fellow cheerleaders in tow.  
Angel looked around and said, " Well, I'm off to a good start, aren't I?"  
Just then, the first bell rang. " Well, there's our cue." said Gerry.   
" Let's get this over with."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. On the way to camp

Angel finished the day totally wiped out. She was not tired from school itself, she was tired from dodging the nasty looks, imploring teachers, and mean principals. She appear ed to be the most hated girl in all of TC Williams High. Even the other members of the football team were not receiving such horrible treatment from their peers.  
Angel went to her locker, got her stuff out, and slammed the locker door. She swung her bag on her back, and then walked outside to get on her bike and go home.  
When she got outside, she dropped her bag.  
All over the streets there were people. Hundreds and hundreds of people. All of them yelling, all of them furious. Most of them were holding signs, that said stuff like " Home-EC, not football", "Girls can't play ball", " NOMF- Not On My Field."   
Angel was looking around, shocked. Sunshine walked up beside her.  
" Me. These people are throwing this big of a fit over me." Angel said in amazement.   
" You're different. People here hate people who are different." Sunshine said. " You need a ride home?" Angel asked him.  
" Where's your bike?"  
" Right over....." She started to say, but trailed off. Over in the same place where she had parked her bike that very morning, was a pile of Harley Davidson parts. The tires, helmet and seat were neatly stacked beside the pile of rubble.  
Angel saw red. She turned, looked at the crowd; which had grown eerily quiet; and she screamed, " Thanks for leaving the f***ing parts!!!!"  
She snatched up her bag, dug through it, and hauled out her wallet. She opened her wallet, got some change, and stormed over to the payphone.   
Her hands were shaking so bad, she could not dial her number.   
Sunshine gently took the receiver from her, and said " What's your number?"  
She didn't argue with him. " 298-3256." She leaned back against the wall as he dialed. He listened into the phone, then handed to her. " It's ringing."  
Her dad picked up. " Baby, what's the matter?"  
She fought back tears. " Daddy, there are a million people protesting against me, and they took apart my Harley."  
Her father took a deep breath. " Are all the parts still there, or did they took those?"  
" No, they're here."  
" Okay, sweetie, we'll take care of this, okay? I'll bring the truck, so we can get all the parts together and we'll put the bike back together. As for the protesters, can you wait inside until I get there?"  
"Yeah. Sunshine is waiting with me."  
" Okay. Stay in the front hall until I get there."  
" See you in a minute Dad, and be careful."  
She hung up, and Sunshine walked with her back into the building. They sat down on a bench.  
" Man, that's pretty intense out there." Sunshine said, shifting his bag off of his back and onto his lap.  
" Yeah I know. I played ball when we lived in Maine. It was kinda a big deal, but that was nothing compared to this."  
" Yeah. They'll get used to you though. Hey, they got used to me, the Sunshine Kid."  
Angel smiled. " How'd you get that nickname, anyways?"  
"I got it from Rev. I come from California, and before I went to camp, I had this really long blond hair. So, Rev being Rev, he gave me the nickname Sunshine."  
" Wonder what they'll call you." He said.  
" Overbearing, Arrogant, Egotistical Bitch probably has a nice ring to it to most of them."  
" Nah, " He said, " Too long."  
She whacked him lightly on the arm. "That was low."  
" I know. Look, there's your dad...and a bunch of big, burly people."  
Angel ran to the door and looked out. With her father were 12 very large leather-clad bikers. "Oh my gosh, it's the guys!"  
" Which guys?" Sunshine asked.  
" Well, when me and my dad lived in South Dakota, of all places, we met the Angel Gang."  
" The Angel Gang?"  
" Yeppers. The Angel Gang. I'm an honorary member. But anyways, we met them in South Dakota. They must be the only twelve black men who ride Hogs in South Dakota."  
Angel watched as the twelve men walked over to the pile of her Harley's insides. They backed the truck up right next to the pile of parts, and started picking them up one piece at a time, and carefully put them on the soft foam they laid in the back.  
" What are they doing?" Sunshine asked.  
" Restoring a Harley is expensive enough, but restoring a 1967 Harley with all 1967 parts is a million dollar investment. If one part is missing, it could cost about $400."  
" Wow. That's a lot."  
Her father came into the building, walked over to her, and swept her into a bear hug. "Are you alright?" he said, his eyes full of concern.  
" I'm okay Dad, promise. What are the Angel Gang doing here?" Angel asked, watching as the guys were warding off the crowd.   
" They are the best damned Harley mechanics in the country, and they were on their way to NYC. So I called Bear, and asked him to please bring the gang and come and put my girl's Harley back together."  
Angel watched the guys as they came toward the building. They were an intimidating bunch, and they parted the crowd with ease.   
" Well, well, well, I guess all the kings horses and men are gonna put this Harley together again, huh, Girl?" Bear asked, with a big toothy grin on his face.  
Angel gave him a big hug. " Bear, I have never been so happy to see your ugly face."  
" Uh. If it was anyone else, I would be insulted."  
" C'mon, you guys," her father said, " Let's go put the Harley together."  
  
  
That night, Angel laid down on her bed, exhausted, but satisfied. Whoever had dismantled her bike had known what he or she was doing, so the bike was coming back together like a puzzle. The next day, Saturday, was going to be dedicated to getting it back together, and cleaning the sugar out of the gas tank.  
Angel was about half asleep, when she smelled something. She really couldn't tell what it was, but it was getting stronger and stronger.  
She couldn't pinpoint the smell, so she got out of bed. She walked around her room a minute, and then caught something orange in her front yard out of the corner of her eye.  
She ran to her window, looked out, and saw it.  
Someone had set up a huge, six foot cross, in her front yard. And someone had set fire to it.   
  
Angel went dashing down the stairs, out the front door and onto the lawn. Her father was there, standing silently, watching the cross burn.  
Angel looked at her dad, watching him. He looked....she didn't know what he might have been thinking. He was just standing there.  
Suddenly, he yelled, " IS THIS ALL YOU GOT? IS IT? BURN A CROSS IN MY YARD, THAT AIN'T GONNA SCARE ME, YOU LOW DOWN, WHITE CAPE WEARING, IGNORANT REDNECKS!!! "  
Angel said, " What are we gonna do about it Dad?"  
" Let it burn. Let the damn thing burn."  
" Dad..."  
" Angel, I am not going to stand for this. These people want to harass me at my office, you at school, and then both of us at home. I am not going to stand for it. Let that cross burn. They are not going to run me and my daughter out of town. I am going to live here and no one is going to stop me."  
" Okay Dad." Angel said.  
He looked at her, confused. " Did you just...agree with me?"  
" First time I have ever seen you take a stand against your persecutors. I honestly didn't think that you had it in you."  
He smiled, and put his arm around her shoulders. They turned, and started walking toward the house. Then they heard the sound of firetrucks. " Well, at least someone called the fire department." Angel said, supressing a yawn.  
" Probably that old woman who lives next door. She didn't want ash on her precious petunias."  
" Hahaha, very funny Dad."  
  
Angel spent all of her first Saturday in Alexandria in her garage. Her bike was almost put back together by the end of the day.  
"Just needs spark plugs." Bear said, cleaning his hands with a rag.  
" I'll walk into town, go and get some." Angel said, checking her face in the mirror, to make sure that she got no oil on it.  
" Okay. Need some money?"  
" Yeah. Probably about 3 or 4 bucks."  
Bear handed her the money, and she set off for the hardware store.   
As she walked through town, it was dusk. Everyone was out, shopping, doing errands, whatnot. As she walked through town, people stopped, and stared. Angel ignored them, but it was hard.  
She went to the store, got her spark plugs, paid, and walked out. She quickened her pace as she walked, it was really dark by this point. She saw a field, and thought " I'll cut through there, and save time." She started across the field, and immediately got a bad feeling. She was looking around, it was dark all around her.  
Just then, she heard a noise. Several noises. She was being surrounded from all sides.  
She stopped, in the middle of the field, next to a lightpost. Then seven or eight guys came slowly into the circle of light. In their hands were boards, chains and pipes.  
" Oh sh**." Angel thought, as she looked around. Then she said " Can I help you guys?"  
" Yeah, b****. We are gonna mess you up so bad, your own daddy ain't gonna be able to recognize you."  
With that, all eight guys came at her at once. She landed a few good kicks and punches, but for every one punch from her, four hits from a pipe came at her.  
Angel was laying on the ground, bleeding and in agony. Then, the biggest guy said " You had enough? Just say the word."  
Angel looked at him, and then said, " F**** you, asshole."  
Angel saw him swing the pipe, and was bracing to be hit in face, when she saw a hand grabbed the pipe from behind.  
She turned her head, and saw Sunshine. Sunshine, with a Louisville slugger.  
What she saw then she would not believe. Sunshine swung the bat, and connected with the jaws of every guy in the group. Every guy started running.   
Sunshine stood there for a few seconds, the bat still in the air. Then he slowly turned, dropped the bat, and crouched next to Angel.  
Angel was in so much pain, she was crying. She never cried about things that hurt, ever.  
For a minute, she didn't recognizing Sunshine. When he reached down to lift her up off her back, she flinched. She was practically delirious.  
" Don....don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. Please..."  
As she faded out of consciousness, she heard Sunshine say, " Never Babe. Never."  
  
Angel woke up in a white hospital room. She slowly opened her swollen eyelids to see Sunshine and her father. Her father was asleep by her bed in a chair, and Sunshine was asleep in a cot by her bed.  
She looked down at herself. No casts, so no broken bones. Ugly bruises all up and down her arms. Okay, she thought, it can't be as bad as I thought it was. She felt a bandage on her right ankle. She shifted her sheet and poked her foot out from under it. An ace bandage. Sprained ankle? She turned her foot. OWOWOWOW! She thought. Yep, sprained ankle.  
Her dad suddenly woke up. " Hey slugger." He said gently. "How ya feeling?"  
" Bad. Lousy. In pain. Take your pick. How long was I out?"  
" Three days."  
" THREE.... I was out for three days?"  
" Yep. You got attacked on Saturday, and today is Tuesday, so yep, three days."  
" Sonfabitch. I missed the game."  
Her dad perked up. " The game?"  
"The game we had against Northside. It was on Monday, after school. The guys who attacked me were probably Northside football players."  
" Damn them! I am going to get on this right away sweetheart, don't you worry."  
With that. He bustled out of the room, muttering all the way down the hall.   
Angel heard stirring, she turned, and saw Sunshinesitting up on his cot. " Hey Angel," he said, kinda of awkwardly.   
" Sleep well?" Angel asked, smiling, and sitting up in bed.  
Sunshine sat up, rubbed his eyes, and came over and sat down in the chair her father had left. " Yeah. I slept pretty good."  
"How long have you been here?"  
" Well, I came in with the ambulance, stayed until Monday, then I went to school. I came back after the game; by the way, everyone missed you, we coulda used you. Coach Boone was having a fit because he wanted to put you in. Anyways, came back after the game, and fell asleep on this cot, and here I am."  
" So you've basically been here as long as I have."  
" Well... yeah. Basically."  
" Why?"  
"Well...." Sunshine got quiet. "Well?" Angel prompted. " I...just...wanted to make sure you were alright." he finished lamely.  
"Right. So you hung with my unconscious a$$ for three days."  
"Yeah, basically."  
Angel observed him for a minute. Then she said, " Okay, I'll buy that."  
"Whew." Sunshine said, " For a minute there I thought you were gonna call my bluff."  
" Well, it's sweet of you to have one."   
Sunshine smiled. Then he looked at his watch and said " Well, I gotta go to school. I'll come by and see you this afternoon, okay?"  
Then, without giving her a chance to respond or react, he leaned over, kissed her on the cheek, and was out the door.  
Angel sat there for a few minutes, kinda stunned. Stunned was not the word. She couldn't think of the name of the feeling she was feeling.  
Just then, her doctor walked in. " How are you feeling Angel?" asked Doctor Hall.   
" Like I have been hit with a bunch of pipes, boards and chains. When am I being released?"  
"Today. I want to run a few tests though, just to make sure there was no permanent damage."  
  
  
  
That afternoon, Angel was wheeled out of her room, and out the hospital door. She breathed fresh air. She Looked up at Bear, and said, " Did you get my Harley back together?"  
" Yeah baby. She's at the house waiting for ya. In the mean time, we get to ride mine."  
Angel perked a little. His had a sidecar, so she could enjoy the view out of the eye she could still see out of.  
They rode in complete silence, slowly riding past all of the buildings and businesses. They came to a stop light, and right next to them was a green pickup truck. Angel glanced over at it, and then did a double take.  
Inside of the truck was the four guys who had beat the sh** out of her. She sat there, gaping. They looked over at her, and they smiled and waved.  
She hopped out of the sidecar and went over to the truck. She picked up a pipe that was in the road, and bashed the side window with it.  
The guys were not smiling anymore. Angel reached in with both hands and pulled one of the guys out through the window. She slammed him against the truck, and said " Didn't mess me up as bad as you thought you would, didja asshole?"  
She felt hands on her shoulders. " Let it go babe. Ain't gonna do no one no good."  
She breathed deeply. She let him go. " This ain't over fool. I'll make sure you get put in your place, and you get put there good."  
The guy crawled back into the truck, and they all sped off.   
Angel turned around and Bear was standing right there. " Thank you Pooh Bear, for saving me from myself once again."  
" No problem Babe. Let's get back to your house. I'll be leaving for NYC soon."  
  
  
  
The next day, Angel went back to school. She decided to shock everyone. She wore all black leather. A black leather halter top, tight black leather pants, and a black leather jacket with plenty of fringe and black beads. Her curly red hair was pulled back with a black scrunchie.   
She hopped on her Harley, and rode to school. She parked, and was immediatly surrounded by the guys from the football team.  
" Are you okay How ya feeling" Rev asked, looking at her now intact bike in amazement.  
" I will feel much better once I get back on the field." Angel said.  
Just then, Coach Boone walked up. " I need to see a doctor's note, saying you are fit to play."  
Angel produced the note. " Written, signed and stamped in doctor's handwriting. I would have got it notarized too, but I didn't have time."  
" Haha, very funny. I wanna see all of you on the field this afternoon. We have a big game in two days, and we are going to win."  
" Okay Coach. C YA there."  
Angel got off her bike, and reached for helmet to take it off. Then, she saw the cheerleaders who had spat in her face. She said " Maybe I should leave this on."  
" Look," She said, " I just wanted to apoligize. I'm really sorry"  
Angel inched the helmet off. " Ya mean it?"  
" Yeah. That was really mean of me. And what those guys did to you was really noxious."  
" Yeah, well, thank you...What is your name?"  
" Jessica. Jessica Parker."  
" Well, Jessica Jessica Parker. I accept your apology."  
  
Angel was riding home after practice, feeling content. Exhausted, yes, but content. Life was going a little better than it had for the last couple of days.  
That is, until she saw the graffitti.  
All over her house, stuff like " GO HOME YANKEE" and " HALF BREEDS NOT WELCOME" was sprayed in black spray paint. It was not just on the house, it was on the driveway and on the lawn as well.  
She stood there for a few minutes, and then sat down on her driveway, stunned. There was someone who really hated her and her father.  
Just then, she heard a group of familiar voices behind her. " Dang girl, who did this?" Rev asked. He was accompanied by Gerry, Julian, Eddie and Sunshine.  
" My fan club." She said weakly.  
" One hellava fanclub you got there."  
" My life sucks."  
Rev took a seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. " Nah, your life don't suck. At least you have one. The people who did this," And he pointed to the graffitti, " They don't have no life."  
Just then, Mrs. Halliwell, the old woman who lived nextdoor, poked her head out her window. She looked at Julian and Rev, and said " Go home you heathens!"  
Rev and Julian spun around. " Stick it in your ear, you wrinkled up old white woman!"  
Angel laughed. Mrs Halliwell came storming out of her house and stood face to face with Julian and Rev.  
" Well, in my day, we had no such heathens as yourselves. The neighborhoods..."  
Angel, still laughing, said " Mrs. Halliwell, do us all a favor and SHUT UP."  
  
  
  



	3. The Plot thickens

" How dare..."  
" No, Mrs. Halliwell, how dare you. We are not bothering  
you, and we don't even wanna talk to you. Now why don't you  
go and piddle in your flowers and LEAVE US ALONE!!!!!"  
" Dang, that girl's gone mental," Julian whispered to  
Sunshine, watching Angel turn purple with rage.  
Mrs. Halliwell puffed up like an angry rooster, turned on  
one heel and marched into her house, still muttering about  
what the neighborhood was coming to.  
" All of the luck we have, we had to move in next to  
Satan's sister." Angel said, wheeling her bike into the garage.  
They all had a good laugh, and then Angel went inside.  
  
Two days passed like a second. As soon as Angel knew it,  
it was her first game this T.C. Williams High football season.  
And she was nervous.  
She got dressed, and pulled the red and white Titans  
jersey over her head. She picked up her helmet, took a deep  
breath, and walked down the hall, where the team was told to  
meet to run out onto the field.  
No one spoke. They had all come in and seen the  
protestors. These people looked dangerous. The Alexandria  
Police were out in full force, making sure that no one got out of  
hand.  
The Titans took the field at the same time that Southwest  
High did. Angel saw that all of them were looking her way and  
laughing. She could see the thoughts running through their  
heads. Oh, they have a girl on their team, so they must suck.  
The game started, Angel watching intensely from the bench.   
  
By the time the first half was over, The Titans were up by  
4 points, and Sunshine had been playing all the first half.  
Angel saw hesitation turn to determination on Coach Boone's  
face when he said, " Angel! You're in for Sunshine!"  
Angel got her helmet on, and ran to her starting position  
on the field. She crouched, waited for the whistle, and  
suddenly felt the ball in her hands.  
She saw that Rev, Gerry and Julian were open. She  
spiraled the ball to Rev, who was in the most clear. Just as she  
threw the ball, she was tackled hard. She rolled over, and hit  
back.   
In the end, Angel had played like a pro. Half the Titans  
crowd was cheering, the other half, booing and hissing. But  
Angel didn't care. She was happy with the way she had played.  
She was hot, sweaty and dirty. She went to her own  
personal locker room, which was about the size of a small  
bedroom, and showered and changed.  
Just then, there was a knock at her door.   
" Come in." Angel said, running a brush through her wet  
hair.  
Gerry peeked in through a crack in the door. " Is it  
alright?"  
Angel laughed. " I'm decent Gerry, I promise. What do  
you want?"  
Gerry opened the door all the way, and Angel was  
surprised to see the entire team, outside of the door.  
" Whats...going on?" Angel asked curiously.  
"Angel," Gerry said, acting all official, " For your  
outstanding performance, and unbeatable team spirit and  
unity, all of your fellow teammates and I have agreed to  
present you with...the game ball."  
He held out the grimy ball, a prize among teams. Angel  
looked at the ball, back at Gerry, and said, " Gerry, I..."  
" Take it." Gerry said firmly, taking her hand and  
placing the ball in it. " You earned it."  
Angel held the ball, and said, " Thank you."  
  
She picked up her bag, and her and the team walked  
outside to the bus together. Outside, the protesters were  
growing more aggressive. Obscenities were being hurled left  
and right, and reporters kept getting in their faces.  
" Is it true, Miss McGuire, that your mother ran out on  
you when you were three, and that's why you play sports? TO  
prove some kind of sick point?" One reporter shouted as he  
ran along side her, trying to keep up.  
Angel did not dignify him with a response. The crowd  
was getting thicker and more menacing, and she needed to  
keep her wits about her. People were pressing in from all  
sides, and it was getting nasty.  
She made it on to the bus and sat down. She looked at  
Lastic, who was sitting next to her, and said, "Dang. It's mean  
out there."  
" It'll get better. Don't even worry about it."  
Just then, a brick came through the back door. Everyone  
ducked, and Coach Boone yelled at the driver, " Back to  
school now!!"  
The driver sped to the school, almost running a few  
people over on his way across town. When he jerked to a stop  
and parked the bus, all was silent. Everyone was looking at  
each other, waiting and wondering.  
It was Coach Yoast that broke the silence. " Great game  
everyone. Now, wait until your parents arrive before you exit  
the bus."  
With that, he took his daughter and he left.  
Coach Boone left shortly after with his daughter, with  
strict instructions to the driver not to let anyone off until their  
parents arrived.  
Everyone looked around at each other. Finally, Angel  
said, " You guys can just go ahead and say it."  
" Say what?" said Gerry.  
" Oh, I dunno. That someone could have gotten really  
hurt tonight, that all of those protestors would not have been  
there hadn't been for me, I should probably just quit football, I  
mean, take your fucking pick."  
For a minute, there was more silence. Then Rev said, "  
No one blames you for what happened..."  
" We should." Ray said.  
Then Gerry exploded. " Know what? We aren't blame  
anyone for what happened. It was those people out there, who  
don't know nothing about us. Now, if we are going to play all  
season, we are going to have to pull together, like we did at  
camp. Now that we are in the real world, people are telling us  
that we can't be together as a team. If we wanna win, we are  
gonna hafta be unstoppable."  
Just then, Gerry's mom pulled into the parking lot. He  
looked around at his team, and hopped off the bus.  
One by one, the players got off. Finally, it dwindled down  
to Sunshine, Ray and Angel.  
" You know, it is your fault that all of those people were  
there." Ray said nastily.  
" So if I give into people like you, I can keep the peace,  
is that what you are saying Ray?" Angel shot back.  
" Alright, both of you knock it off. We are all tired, and  
it's late." Sunshine said.  
"No one asked you hippie boy."  
"No one asked you either Ray." Angel said wearily.  
Just then, Angel's dad showed up. Sunshine and Angel got  
off the bus, because it had been arranged that Sunshine would  
get a ride home from Angel.  
As Angel stepped off the bus, she heard Ray say to  
Sunshine, " Whipped by a half breed, huh Hippie boy?"  
" Better a half breed rather than a racist white boy."   
Ray gaped in amazement as Sunshine and Angel stepped  
off the bus.  
  
When Angel's dad pulled up in front of Sunshine's house,  
he said, " Walk him to the door Angel. I'm not taking any  
chances."  
Angel hopped out of the car, and she and Sunshine  
walked to his front door. They both stopped at the door, and  
Angel said, " Good game, Sunshine."  
" Yeah. Wish it were played under better circumstances  
though. See you tommorrow, okay?"  
" Okay. Goodnight."  
  
Angel's moral was running down. It was almost  
Christmas vacation, and life at school was really not much  
better. Everyone still hated the Titans. Especially her. They  
really hated her.  
Angel started on her way to school on foot. Her father had  
a rule: No riding the Harley in the snow. Then, Gerry pulled up  
next to her in his Camero.  
" Need a ride?" He shouted, popping the door open.  
" Thanks Ger." She said, sighing as she threw her stuff in  
the seat and closed the door.   
" Where's your bike?"  
" Dad has a rule. No riding in heavy rain and when it has  
been snowing."  
" Oh. So, any big plans for Christmas?"  
" Not really. No family coming, nothing. Me, my dad and  
my brothers. What about you?"  
" Me and my mom. The guys were talking about getting  
together, but I don't know..."  
They pulled up in front of the school, and saw all the guys  
congregating in front of the building. Angel found Sunshine,  
and said " Hey! Merry Christmas."  
" Hey. Yeah, Merry Christmas. Any plans?"  
" Me, Dad and my brothers. What about you?"  
" Me and Dad. Listen, since Christmas break starts  
tommorrow, and Coach Boone doesn't have any in-the-snow  
practices planned, I was wondering, if you weren't doing  
anything, if you wanted to, you know, go catch a movie or  
something."  
Angel was floored. Some guy was actually asking her  
out?  
" Um...sure. Yeah, that sounds like fun. Tomorrow  
night?"  
" Yeah, I'll pick up about....6:30?"  
Angel smiled. " Okay. I'll be ready."  
He smiled back, and walked away. Then, Lastic, Rev,  
Julius and Gerry walked over.  
" Did we hear right? You are actually going on a DATE  
with Sunshine?" Rev asked incredulously.  
" Were you eavesdropping?" Angel asked, pretending to  
be stern.  
" Yes. Now, answer my question. Are you going out with  
Sunshine?"  
" Well, if you were listening to our conversation so well,  
you figure it out."  
" Whooohoooooo. Sunshine's got himself a date!!!!!!!"  
Then they went off, to tell the entire team. Sunshine  
walked back over smiling. " Did the guys just figure out that  
you are actually a girl?"  
" Amazing thought, isn't it?" Angel said, laughing.  
" Well...not to me." He said, gazing at her.  
Angel smiled, and blushed a little. She said, " C'mon  
Sunshine. Don't give'm to much to gossip about, it might be  
too much for them."  
  
All day long, Angel heard nothing else but her arranged  
date with Sunshine. The girls in her classes were mad at her,  
the guys were giving Sunshine a hard time, and the teachers  
kept trying to shut everyone up.  
Angel threw her books in her locker after her third period  
class, grabbed her lunch, and headed down to the cafeteria.  
There, she looked around, until she saw Lastic and Sunshine  
waving her over.  
Angel dropped her lunch, and said, " Hey guys. What's  
up?"  
" You and Sunshine are like the talk of the school." said  
Lastic, taking a huge bite of his triple bacon cheeseburger.  
" Yeah, I noticed. You just can't have a love life in this  
place, can you?" Angel said offhandedly, taking a bite of her  
sprout sandwich.  
Lastic laughed so hard that beef and bacon spewed out of  
his mouth. " Ewww!" Angel said. " Could you go regurgitate  
those poor murdered animals somewhere else please?"  
Lastic chewed hastily, then swallowed. " Sorry. Did you  
hear the news though?"  
" What news?" Angel asked.  
" Coach is thinking about moving you to left defensive  
linebacker."  
" WH--" Angel starting choking on her sandwich.  
Sunshine gave her a few hard whacks between the shoulder  
blades, and she recovered. "Left Defensive linebacker?? He's  
nuts. I don't have the bulk to play defensive linebacker. Big  
guys like you play that position Lastic."  
" I know. But I heard him talking, and said that with your  
speed and agility, you could make up the bulk with that. It's a  
good opportunity to see what else you can do. I mean, QB is  
nice and all, but I bet you could do other things."  
" Wait a minute. If I get moved to defensive linebacker,  
that means..."  
Sunshine finished her thought, " Ray gets bumped  
somewhere else."  
Just then, Ray walked over. He was breathing hard, and  
almost foaming at the mouth. " What the hell you think your  
doing?"  
" Ray, it was not my idea. I don't wanna play defensive  
linebacker anyways."   
" Well, you better make sure that you don't."  
With that, Ray walked away. Angel stared after him,  
getting angrier and angrier. That anger went with her until  
that afternoon's practice, when Coach Boone said, " Angel, we  
are going to try something a little different. I want you at Ray's  
position for right now, okay? Just to see how you do."  
Angel put on her helmet, and ran out onto the field. She  
stepped in front of Lastic, and, before she put her mouthguard,  
she said, " Don't hold back Lastic."  
She waited, crouched and ready to go. She heard  
Sunshine shout, " Down, set, hut!" After that, all the noise  
seemed to fade. She knocked Lastic, all three hundred and  
fifty pounds of him, over with amazing ease. She ducked under  
Blue, who was trying to jump over her,spun around to avoid  
Julius, and sacked Sunshine before he had even had the  
chance to throw the ball. Everyone stopped, and stared.  
" What's the matter, never seen a QB sacked before?"  
Angel asked, spitting out her mouthguard.  
Angel saw everyone looking at Lastic, who was still on  
the ground, looking dazed, at Blue, who had taken a faceful of  
mud, Julius, who was looking dizzy, and finally at Sunshine,  
who was flat out on his back, the football laying beside him.  
She then looked over at Coach Boone and Coach Yoast,  
and was kind of pleased when she saw looks of outright shock  
on their faces/  
They walked over to her. Coach Boone opened and closed  
his mouth a few times like a fish out of water, and finally,  
Coach Yoast said, " Where did you learn to play like that?"  
" I have 12 brothers Coach. You learn to play with them  
or you get stomped on." Angel said.  
Both coaches looked at each other, and Coach Boone  
said, " How would you feel about playing linebacker for the  
rest of the season?"  
" Coach, if you are suggesting that I trade second string  
QB for third string linebacker, I don't think so."  
Coach Yoast smiled, and said, " Who said anything about  
third string?"  
  
Angel walked home that afternoon with a great sense of  
triumph. She had no homework, she had a date the next day,  
and she was the new strongside linebacker for the T.C  
Williams Titans.  
Yes, she thought, life is taking an upturn. She looked  
behind her, and saw a group of the Titans walking toward her.  
She stopped, curious. They looked really pissed about  
something, which, although it wasn't unusual when it came to  
her, they usually had a reason, and she hadn't done anything,  
or she didn't THINK she had done anything.  
" What's up guys?" She said, looking at the guys.  
Ray stepped forward, and said, "Remember what I said  
would happen if you stole my position bitch?"  
Angel bristiled. " Look Ray, I know your big male macho  
pride is wounded, and really, I feel for ya man. But the simple  
fact is, I am better than you and you just need to get over it."  
Ray lunged forward, and was pulled back by Lastic, Blue  
and Julius. " Back up off her, man," Blue said, " She's right,  
and you might as well get used to it."  



	4. Hatred in Virgina

Ray jerked his arm away from Lastic, and stormed away.  
Angel sighed, and said, "Well, as fun as that was, I'm so  
out of here."  
Angel walked away, her feeling of triumph crushed. Just  
then, Sunshine caught up with her.  
" Hey Angel." He said, with his perfect smile spread  
across his face. "How's it going?"  
Angel considered telling him the truth. She considered  
telling him how homesick she was, how much Alexandria, VA  
sucked, how scared she was of these guys, who, if they wanted  
to, could really screw her up bad.  
She was going to tell him all of this. But she took one look  
at that big smile, those baby blue eyes, and she melted.  
" It's going good Sunshine. Just a little tired, I guess."  
" Yeah, I heard you had a big day. Making defensive  
linebacker and all."  
"Yeah." Then Angel noticed a strange car in Sunshine's  
driveway. " Who's car is that?"  
Angel watched as Sunshine turned green, then pale faced  
white. Angel didn't know what was going on, but she did know  
that the 1964 Canary Yellow Mustang Convertible that was  
parked in his driveway scared the hell out of him.   
"Sunshine, what's wrong?" Angel asked, concerned.  
" N-Nothing. I'll....I'll see you tonight, alright?"  
"Alright." With that, Sunshine took off toward his house.  
Angel closed her eyes, shook her head, and said, "Weird.  
Wonder what's going on."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Angel was ready and waiting when Sunshine showed up  
that night. She was dressed in black leather hiphuggers, a  
black halter top, black high top sneakers, and had her hair  
loose around her shoulders. She came down the stairs, and  
looked at her brother Bryan.  
" Bry, how do I look?" She asked, spinning around.  
"Sis, you are a picture of the stars and the heavens." He  
replied.  
Angel looked confused. " What?"  
" You look good Angel."  
" Oh, thanks. I guess."  
Just then, the doorbell rang. Angel ran to the door, took a  
deep breath, and opened the door.  
Sunshine was standing there, smiling nervously. He was  
dressed in a simple blue sweater, khakis, white sneakers...  
and a huge black eye.  
" My God, Sunshine. What's happened?" Angel asked,  
pulling him inside.  
" Oh this? Don't worry this is nothing. I....fell. Tripped,  
actually, on the stairs. Don't worry about it."  
But Angel was worried. She didn't like being lied to, and  
she had the sneakiest suspicion that he was hiding something  
big.   
"Oh...okay. Well, Dad, we're leaving."  
Her father had been in the same room as this exchange  
took place, and he said, "Alright honey. Be home by eleven."  
She walked over to him, and kissed him on the cheek.  
Her father stopped her, and whispered, " Be careful.  
Something is not right."  
" I know it. I'll see you at eleven."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~   
What Sunshine had planned was supposed to be simple.  
Dinner and a movie.   
When they got to the movie theater, they encountered a  
problem.  
" Sorry sir, we are all filled up tonight." the cocky movie  
mason said.  
" What are you talking about? People aren't going to be  
showing up for a while yet. So....what are you talking about?"  
" Sorry son. You and your half-breed girlfriend will have  
to go somewhere else."  
Below the belt, Angel thought, more amused that  
anything else. But when she saw Sunshine's angry face, she  
said, " C'mon Sunshine, we'll just go somewhere else.  
Goodnight, Mr. Mason."  
They walked back over to Sunshine's Firebird. When  
Sunshine pulled out the keys, Angel took them away from him.  
"Hey, what...."  
" Get in the car, Sunshine." Angel said in a quiet, yet  
urgent voice.  
Angel drove for about ten minutes in silence, then  
Sunshine asked, "Can I ask why you took my car keys?"  
" You were angry and in no condition to drive."  
"That's why you took my keys?"  
Angel stopped the car with a jerk. " Did I mortally wound  
your male ego? I am so sorry Sunshine, but on top of you being  
in no condition to drive, there were several men coming out of  
the theater, and they looked mean. Okay? They looked mean,  
and they were carrying bats and chains. I am had enough  
experience to know, that if you get hit in the face with a bat, it  
hurts. Okay? That's why I took your keys, and wounded your  
pride. I really didn't feel like getting worked over."  
They both sat in silence. Then Sunshine said, " Sorry."  
" That's alright. What do you want to do now?"  
" Man, I dunno."  
To their right, Angel spied a park. Nothing fancy, just  
swings, slides, a sandbox, and a little path for people to take a  
walk, ride bikes or rollerskate.  
"Let's go take a walk." Angel said, and got out of the car.  
Sunshine and Angel walked side by side for a while. They  
picked out the constellations.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Answers

They didn't talk for a while, but then Sunshine said, "Angel,  
I'm really sorry..."  
"Don't."  
"Don't what?"  
"Just...don't look like that. All injured. I don't want to  
make you feel like that. I'm sorry."  
They stood there for a while, feeling kinda embarrassed.  
Then, Angel said, "Sunshine, I gotta question for you."  
"Shoot."  
"At camp, did you really kiss Gerry Bertier?"  
Sunshine laughed. "You heard about that, huh?"  
"Yeah. So....what gives?"  
"Everyone on the team thinks that I am gay. Well, I  
kissed one of them to prove a point."  
"Which is..."  
" I really don't give a f*** what they think about me."  
Angel thought about this for a while. "Well, that makes  
sense." Then she thought some more.  
"So, are you?"  
"Am I what?"  
" Homosexual, silly."  
Sunshine turned Angel's face until they were face to face.  
He leaned in, and kissed her without either of them even  
thinking about it.The kiss lasted about 45 seconds. When  
he pulled away, Angel was breathless."Well, does that  
answer your question?" Sunshine said softly.  
  
  
Sunshine pulled in front of Angel's house at 10:45 pm, 15  
minutes before her curfew. He walked her to her door, and  
they both stood there for a second.  
"Well, I had a good time." Angel said.  
" Yeah, me too. See you tommorrow?"  
" Yeah."  
Sunshine took Angel's hand and placed a soft kiss on it.  
He backed off her porch, then turned around and walked back  
to his car.  
Angel walked into her house, feeling on top of the world.  
In the living room, her big brother Matthew was waiting for  
her.  
"Hey baby-doll, how'd it go?" He said, taking off his  
glasses and closing his book.  
"Mattie, I'm scared."  
He looked concerned. "What's wrong baby? Did he..."  
" No, no. Nothing like that. I think I am falling in love or  
something, and it's scary."  
Matthew smiled. "Angel, you have got to let go of the  
past."  
Angel grimaced. "But I am a bitch, Mattie. Guys don't  
fall for me. I put the last guy I dated in intensive care when I  
found out he was cheating on me with the school tramp. What  
if...?" She flopped on the couch in despair.  
Mattie said, "Baby, listento me. You love passionatly,  
and that's a good thing. People learn not to cross you and that  
is also a good thing. You just have to rememeber....you were  
young. And you flew off the handle. That's all."  
"Thanks Mattie."Angel said, and hugged him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
